“He’s making those strides. He needs more at-bats, but we are seeing some light here.”JOE TORRE ON GIAMBI

Yankees 6

Mariners 0

SEATTLE – A week ago Jason Giambi told the Yankees he and they would be better served by him staying with the team instead of trying to find his stroke in the minors.

Last night Giambi backed up those words with his best game of the season to help the sizzling Yankees, winners of 10 straight games, top the Mariners, 6-0, in front of 35,549 at Safeco Field.

Giambi, who was given six games to prove he can help, went 3-for-4, homered and drove in three runs. It was his first homer in 56 at-bats. That’s 14 at-bats shy of his longest homerless streak set last year.

Asked if he had anything to prove, Giambi said, “I’m not worried about it. I work hard, and that’s all I can do.”

Carl Pavano, rocked in his previous three outings – in which he gave up 14 runs in 16 innings (7.88 ERA) and 26 hits, seven of which have been homers – was brilliant last night. He went the distance, allowing five hits and improved to 3-2.

“It was a nice win, especially with the stretch we’ve been through,” Pavano said. “It’s nice to be part of the mix.”

It was Pavano’s first win since April 26 and fifth career complete-game shutout.

Alex Rodriguez joined Giambi by homering in the fifth off loser Julio Mateo. It was A-Rod’s 13th homer, the most in the majors.

The Yankees’ 10th straight win matches their longest win streak since 1998. The club record is 19 by the 1947 squad.

“It’s very satisfying,” said Joe Torre, “especially where we were before this, being eight games under .500 makes it more satisfying.”

Giambi is 7-for-20 (.350) with four RBIs in five games since re-entering the lineup last Friday night in Oakland. With lefty Jamie Moyer starting tonight, Torre wasn’t sure if he would play Giambi at first base or stay with Tino Martinez at first. Torre is committed to using switch-hitter Bernie Williams as the DH tonight.

When Giambi was asked if he thought he had now earned his playing time, he said, “I don’t know. As long as I got a bat in my hand, I put a say into it.”

And with the Yankees at Shea Stadium this weekend and no DH in play, Torre didn’t know if he would give Giambi a start at first base.

However, after Giambi went 3-for-4, Torre likes what he saw.

“There’s a lot of good things,” Torre said. “He’s making those strides. He needs more at-bats, but we are seeing some light here. With all the frustration he has been through, he was excited.”

A-Rod drove in two runs and Jorge Posada one.

Giambi’s first homer since April 19 came off lefty Matt Thornton in the sixth and hiked the Yankees’ advantage to 6-0. Giambi reached down and swatted an 0-1 pitch into the right-field seats for his fourth homer.

Bret Boone’s getting hit by an 0-2 pitch in the second inning and consecutive two-out singles by Richie Sexson and Raul Ibanez in the fourth accounted for all the Mariners’ baserunners through five.

Pavano had a 5-0 lead to work with when he started the fifth, thanks to A-Rod’s two-run, two-out homer in the fifth, a pair of RBI singles from Giambi in the fourth and Second, and Posada’s run-producing single in the second.

Gary Sheffield reached on an infield single with one out in the fifth and A-Rod brought him home by driving a 1-1 pitch on a line over the left-center field wall for his 13th homer and a 5-0 lead.

Batting with Martinez on second via a walk and a passed ball and two outs, Giambi stroked a 1-2 pitch on the ground to right to score Martinez and push the Yankees’ bulge to 3-0.

Long time comin’

Before last night’s sixth-inning home run, Jason Giambi last homered way back on April 19 – nearly a full month for the Yanks’ struggling $81 Million Man. A look at Giambi’s batting stats in between homers (including his first two ABs last night, preceding his dinger):